Nearly seven decades after they were written, the repeated lines at the end of each verse of Pete Pete Seeger’s great political song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”, pose what may be the defining question for some of the ways the world is dealing with the war in Ukraine: “When will they ever learn?”… Read the rest
How much bloodshed, destruction and chaos Vladimir Putin is willing to inflict upon Ukraine can be guessed at by looking at how far he’s already gone down the road to perfidy and infamy. And bear in mind he claims to be doing it to “de-Nazify” the country and end “bullying and genocide.”… Read the rest
According to a recent headline: “Coverage of Ukraine has exposed longstanding racist biases in Western media”. The thrust of that and similar articles was that reporters noting the victims were Europeans, rather than people we normally think of as being refugees, were guilty of racism. As a journalist who has covered more than a few conflicts, I beg to differ.… Read the rest
Experts tend to have better focus than peripheral vision. In the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is considerable evidence many of them had neither. Vladimir Putin’s aims have long been obvious, subtly framed by his historical perspective and steadily buttressed with means to fight back if they are opposed.… Read the rest
Those who equate freedom with irresponsibility and heedless self-indulgence neither understand nor deserve it. For what it’s worth, that’s my take on the so-called “Freedom Convoy” protest that began in Canada with the rallying cry “Freedom” and spawned copycats around the world. Herewith why…… Read the rest
The early 2nd century poet Juvenal coined the phrase “bread and circuses” to describe how Roman emperors distracted their public from governmental shortcomings. The rash and ultimately short-sighted ploy echoes today in the form of crises. The danger is that crises can be lethal if mishandled, a distinct possibility when they are seasoned with cynicism.… Read the rest
When I was 8, my parents got me a library card. It allowed me to borrow up to three books at a time. Books took me to wondrous and otherwise inaccessible places, put me in the company of fascinating ideas and people. Advocates of the book banning movement sluicing across the U.S.,… Read the rest
The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes pronounces that “…there is nothing new under the sun.” Thankfully, however, there are idioms and aphorisms to provide new prisms through which to view today’s versions of conundrum and folly. Herewith a few.… Read the rest
I recently came across a promotional video for “The Canadian”, a showpiece passenger train running between Toronto and Vancouver with “personalized service from a dedicated Prestige Concierge”. That begged the question: “What’s in a name?”. The answer is: “What you make of it.”… Read the rest
Depressing as headlines shouting ad nauseum about Covid, the crisis in Ukraine and U.S. politics etc are, there is something in the world to celebrate — the anniversary of an accomplishment worthy of Hamlet’s famous line: “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!… Read the rest